Image encoding/decoding method and device for signaling information related to sub picture and picture header, and method for transmitting bitstream

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are an image encoding and decoding method and apparatus for signaling information on a subpicture and picture header, and a method of transmitting a bitstream. The image decoding method according to the present disclosure may include acquiring a first flag specifying whether information on a subpicture is present in a bitstream, acquiring a second flag specifying whether picture header information is present in a slice header, and decoding the bitstream based on the first flag and the second flag. When the first flag specifies that the information on the subpicture is present in the bitstream, the second flag may have a value specifying that the picture header information is not present in the slice header.

This is a Bypass of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2021/000515, with aninternational filing date of Jan. 14, 2021, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/961,188, filed on Jan. 14, 2020, allof which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an image encoding/decoding method andapparatus, and, more particularly, to an image encoding and decodingmethod and apparatus for signaling information on a subpicture andpicture header, and a method of transmitting a bitstream generated bythe image encoding method/apparatus of the present disclosure.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, demand for high-resolution and high-quality images such ashigh definition (HD) images and ultra high definition (UHD) images isincreasing in various fields. As resolution and quality of image dataare improved, the amount of transmitted information or bits relativelyincreases as compared to existing image data. An increase in the amountof transmitted information or bits causes an increase in transmissioncost and storage cost.

Accordingly, there is a need for high-efficient image compressiontechnology for effectively transmitting, storing and reproducinginformation on high-resolution and high-quality images.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an imageencoding/decoding method and apparatus with improved encoding/decodingefficiency.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide an imageencoding/decoding method and apparatus for improving encoding/decodingefficiency by efficiently signaling information on a subpicture andpicture header.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method oftransmitting a bitstream generated by an image encoding method orapparatus according to the present disclosure.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a recordingmedium storing a bitstream generated by an image encoding method orapparatus according to the present disclosure.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a recordingmedium storing a bitstream received, decoded and used to reconstruct animage by an image decoding apparatus according to the presentdisclosure.

The technical problems solved by the present disclosure are not limitedto the above technical problems and other technical problems which arenot described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the artfrom the following description.

Technical Solution

An image decoding method performed by an image decoding apparatusaccording to an aspect of the present disclosure may include acquiring afirst flag specifying whether information on a subpicture is present ina bitstream, acquiring a second flag specifying whether picture headerinformation is present in a slice header, and decoding the bitstreambased on the first flag and the second flag. When the first flagspecifies that the information on the subpicture is present in thebitstream, the second flag may have a value specifying that the pictureheader information is not present in the slice header.

In the image decoding method according to the present disclosure, whenthe first flag specifies that the information on the subpicture ispresent in the bitstream, the slice header may include an identifier ofa subpicture including a slice related to the slice header.

The image decoding method according to the present disclosure mayfurther include acquiring the picture header information from the sliceheader when the second flag specifies that the picture headerinformation is present in the slice header.

In the image decoding method according to the present disclosure, thesecond flag may have the same value with respect to all slices in acoded layer video sequence (CLVS).

In the image decoding method according to the present disclosure, whenthe second flag specifies that the picture header information is presentin the slice header, a network abstraction layer (NAL) unit fortransmitting the picture header information may not be present in acoded layer video sequence (CLVS).

In the image decoding method according to the present disclosure, whenthe second flag specifies that the picture header information is notpresent in the slice header, the picture header information may beacquired from a network abstraction layer (NAL) unit with an NAL unittype equal to PH_NUT.

In the image decoding method according to the present disclosure, thefirst flag may be signaled at a higher level of a slice, and the secondflag may be included and signaled in the slice header.

An image decoding apparatus according to another aspect of the presentdisclosure may include a memory and at least one processor. The at leastone processor may be configured to acquire a first flag specifyingwhether information on a subpicture is present in a bitstream, toacquire a second flag specifying whether picture header information ispresent in a slice header, and to decode the bitstream based on thefirst flag and the second flag. When the first flag specifies that theinformation on the subpicture is present in the bitstream, the secondflag may have a value specifying that the picture header information isnot present in the slice header.

An image encoding method according to another aspect of the presentdisclosure may include encoding a first flag specifying whetherinformation on a subpicture is present in a bitstream, encoding a secondflag specifying whether picture header information is present in a sliceheader, and encoding the bitstream based on the first flag and thesecond flag. When the first flag specifies that the information on thesubpicture is present in the bitstream, the second flag may have a valuespecifying that the picture header information is not present in theslice header.

In the image encoding method according to the present disclosure, whenthe first flag specifies that the information on the subpicture ispresent in the bitstream, the slice header may include an identifier ofa subpicture including a slice related to the slice header.

The image encoding method according to the present disclosure mayfurther include encoding the picture header information in the sliceheader when the second flag specifies that the picture headerinformation is present in the slice header.

In the image encoding method according to the present disclosure, thesecond flag may have the same value with respect to all slices in acoded layer video sequence (CLVS).

In the image encoding method according to the present disclosure, whenthe second flag specifies that the picture header information is notpresent in the slice header, the picture header information may besignaled through a network abstraction layer (NAL) unit with an NAL unittype equal to PH_NUT.

In the image encoding method according to the present disclosure, thefirst flag may be signaled at a higher level of a slice, and the secondflag may be included and signaled in the slice header.

In addition, a transmission method according to another aspect of thepresent disclosure may transmit the bitstream generated by the imageencoding apparatus or the image encoding method of the presentdisclosure.

In addition, a computer-readable recording medium according to anotheraspect of the present disclosure may store the bitstream generated bythe image encoding apparatus or the image encoding method of the presentdisclosure.

The features briefly summarized above with respect to the presentdisclosure are merely exemplary aspects of the detailed descriptionbelow of the present disclosure, and do not limit the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an imageencoding/decoding method and apparatus with improved encoding/decodingefficiency.

Also, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide animage encoding/decoding method and apparatus for improvingencoding/decoding efficiency by efficiently signaling information on asubpicture and picture header.

Also, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide amethod of transmitting a bitstream generated by an image encoding methodor apparatus according to the present disclosure.

Also, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide arecording medium storing a bitstream generated by an image encodingmethod or apparatus according to the present disclosure.

Also, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide arecording medium storing a bitstream received, decoded and used toreconstruct an image by an image decoding apparatus according to thepresent disclosure.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that that theeffects that can be achieved through the present disclosure are notlimited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and otheradvantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understoodfrom the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a video coding system, to whichan embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable;

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing an image encoding apparatus, towhich an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable;

FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing an image decoding apparatus, towhich an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable;

FIG. 4 is a view showing a partitioning structure of an image accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment of a partitioning type of a blockaccording to a multi-type tree structure;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a signaling mechanism of block splittinginformation in a quadtree with nested multi-type tree structureaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an embodiment in which a CTU is partitionedinto multiple CUs;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image using aslice/tile by an image encoding apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image using aslice/tile by an image decoding apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of the present disclosure of asignaling and syntax element in a picture header;

FIG. 11 is a view showing a syntax structure of a slice header accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 11 ;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 11 ;

FIG. 14 is a view showing the syntax structure of a slice headeraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 14 ;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 14 ;

FIG. 17 is a view showing the syntax structure of a slice headeraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 17 ;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 17 ; and

FIG. 20 is a view showing a content streaming system, to which anembodiment of the present disclosure is applicable.

MODE FOR INVENTION

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to be easilyimplemented by those skilled in the art. However, the present disclosuremay be implemented in various different forms, and is not limited to theembodiments described herein.

In describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that thedetailed description of a related known function or construction rendersthe scope of the present disclosure unnecessarily ambiguous, thedetailed description thereof will be omitted. In the drawings, parts notrelated to description of the present disclosure are omitted, andsimilar reference numerals are attached to similar parts.

In the present disclosure, when a component is “connected”, “coupled” or“linked” to another component, it may include not only a directconnection relationship but also an indirect connection relationship inwhich an intervening component is present. In addition, when a component“includes” or “has” other components, it means that other components maybe further included, rather than excluding other components unlessotherwise stated.

In the present disclosure, the terms first, second, etc. may be usedonly for the purpose of distinguishing one component from othercomponents, and do not limit the order or importance of the componentsunless otherwise stated. Accordingly, within the scope of the presentdisclosure, a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as asecond component in another embodiment, and similarly, a secondcomponent in one embodiment may be referred to as a first component inanother embodiment.

In the present disclosure, components that are distinguished from eachother are intended to clearly describe each feature, and do not meanthat the components are necessarily separated. That is, a plurality ofcomponents may be integrated and implemented in one hardware or softwareunit, or one component may be distributed and implemented in a pluralityof hardware or software units. Therefore, even if not stated otherwise,such embodiments in which the components are integrated or the componentis distributed are also included in the scope of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, the components described in variousembodiments do not necessarily mean essential components, and somecomponents may be optional components. Accordingly, an embodimentconsisting of a subset of components described in an embodiment is alsoincluded in the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,embodiments including other components in addition to componentsdescribed in the various embodiments are included in the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure relates to encoding and decoding of an image, andterms used in the present disclosure may have a general meaning commonlyused in the technical field, to which the present disclosure belongs,unless newly defined in the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a “picture” generally refers to a unitrepresenting one image in a specific time period, and a slice/tile is acoding unit constituting a part of a picture, and one picture may becomposed of one or more slices/tiles. In addition, a slice/tile mayinclude one or more coding tree units (CTUs).

In the present disclosure, a “pixel” or a “pel” may mean a smallest unitconstituting one picture (or image). In addition, “sample” may be usedas a term corresponding to a pixel. A sample may generally represent apixel or a value of a pixel, and may represent only a pixel/pixel valueof a luma component or only a pixel/pixel value of a chroma component.

In the present disclosure, a “unit” may represent a basic unit of imageprocessing. The unit may include at least one of a specific region ofthe picture and information related to the region. The unit may be usedinterchangeably with terms such as “sample array”, “block” or “area” insome cases. In a general case, an M×N block may include samples (orsample arrays) or a set (or array) of transform coefficients of Mcolumns and N rows.

In the present disclosure, “current block” may mean one of “currentcoding block”, “current coding unit”, “coding target block”, “decodingtarget block” or “processing target block”. When prediction isperformed, “current block” may mean “current prediction block” or“prediction target block”. When transform (inversetransform)/quantization (dequantization) is performed, “current block”may mean “current transform block” or “transform target block”. Whenfiltering is performed, “current block” may mean “filtering targetblock”.

In addition, in the present disclosure, a “current block” may mean “aluma block of a current block” unless explicitly stated as a chromablock. The “chroma block of the current block” may be expressed byincluding an explicit description of a chroma block, such as “chromablock” or “current chroma block”.

In the present disclosure, the term “/” and “,” should be interpreted toindicate “and/or.” For instance, the expression “A/B” and “A, B” maymean “A and/or B.” Further, “A/B/C” and “A/B/C” may mean “at least oneof A, B, and/or C.”

In the present disclosure, the term “or” should be interpreted toindicate “and/or.” For instance, the expression “A or B” may comprise 1)only “A”, 2) only “B”, and/or 3) both “A and B”. In other words, in thepresent disclosure, the term “or” should be interpreted to indicate“additionally or alternatively.”

Overview of Video Coding System

FIG. 1 is a view showing a video coding system according to the presentdisclosure.

The video coding system according to an embodiment may include aencoding apparatus 10 and a decoding apparatus 20. The encodingapparatus 10 may deliver encoded video and/or image information or datato the decoding apparatus 20 in the form of a file or streaming via adigital storage medium or network.

The encoding apparatus 10 according to an embodiment may include a videosource generator 11, an encoding unit 12 and a transmitter 13. Thedecoding apparatus 20 according to an embodiment may include a receiver21, a decoding unit 22 and a renderer 23. The encoding unit 12 may becalled a video/image encoding unit, and the decoding unit 22 may becalled a video/image decoding unit. The transmitter 13 may be includedin the encoding unit 12. The receiver 21 may be included in the decodingunit 22. The renderer 23 may include a display and the display may beconfigured as a separate device or an external component.

The video source generator 11 may acquire a video/image through aprocess of capturing, synthesizing or generating the video/image. Thevideo source generator 11 may include a video/image capture deviceand/or a video/image generating device. The video/image capture devicemay include, for example, one or more cameras, video/image archivesincluding previously captured video/images, and the like. Thevideo/image generating device may include, for example, computers,tablets and smartphones, and may (electronically) generate video/images.For example, a virtual video/image may be generated through a computeror the like. In this case, the video/image capturing process may bereplaced by a process of generating related data.

The encoding unit 12 may encode an input video/image. The encoding unit12 may perform a series of procedures such as prediction, transform, andquantization for compression and coding efficiency. The encoding unit 12may output encoded data (encoded video/image information) in the form ofa bitstream.

The transmitter 13 may transmit the encoded video/image information ordata output in the form of a bitstream to the receiver 21 of thedecoding apparatus 20 through a digital storage medium or a network inthe form of a file or streaming. The digital storage medium may includevarious storage mediums such as USB, SD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, HDD, SSD, andthe like. The transmitter 13 may include an element for generating amedia file through a predetermined file format and may include anelement for transmission through a broadcast/communication network. Thereceiver 21 may extract/receive the bitstream from the storage medium ornetwork and transmit the bitstream to the decoding unit 22.

The decoding unit 22 may decode the video/image by performing a seriesof procedures such as dequantization, inverse transform, and predictioncorresponding to the operation of the encoding unit 12.

The renderer 23 may render the decoded video/image. The renderedvideo/image may be displayed through the display.

Overview of Image Encoding Apparatus

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing an image encoding apparatus, towhich an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the image encoding apparatus 100 may include animage partitioner 110, a subtractor 115, a transformer 120, a quantizer130, a dequantizer 140, an inverse transformer 150, an adder 155, afilter 160, a memory 170, an inter predictor 180, an intra predictor 185and an entropy encoder 190. The inter predictor 180 and the intrapredictor 185 may be collectively referred to as a “predictor”. Thetransformer 120, the quantizer 130, the dequantizer 140 and the inversetransformer 150 may be included in a residual processor. The residualprocessor may further include the subtractor 115.

All or at least some of the plurality of components configuring theimage encoding apparatus 100 may be configured by one hardware component(e.g., an encoder or a processor) in some embodiments. In addition, thememory 170 may include a decoded picture buffer (DPB) and may beconfigured by a digital storage medium.

The image partitioner 110 may partition an input image (or a picture ora frame) input to the image encoding apparatus 100 into one or moreprocessing units. For example, the processing unit may be called acoding unit (CU). The coding unit may be acquired by recursivelypartitioning a coding tree unit (CTU) or a largest coding unit (LCU)according to a quad-tree binary-tree ternary-tree (QT/BT/TT) structure.For example, one coding unit may be partitioned into a plurality ofcoding units of a deeper depth based on a quad tree structure, a binarytree structure, and/or a ternary structure. For partitioning of thecoding unit, a quad tree structure may be applied first and the binarytree structure and/or ternary structure may be applied later. The codingprocedure according to the present disclosure may be performed based onthe final coding unit that is no longer partitioned. The largest codingunit may be used as the final coding unit or the coding unit of deeperdepth acquired by partitioning the largest coding unit may be used asthe final coding unit. Here, the coding procedure may include aprocedure of prediction, transform, and reconstruction, which will bedescribed later. As another example, the processing unit of the codingprocedure may be a prediction unit (PU) or a transform unit (TU). Theprediction unit and the transform unit may be split or partitioned fromthe final coding unit. The prediction unit may be a unit of sampleprediction, and the transform unit may be a unit for deriving atransform coefficient and/or a unit for deriving a residual signal fromthe transform coefficient.

The predictor (the inter predictor 180 or the intra predictor 185) mayperform prediction on a block to be processed (current block) andgenerate a predicted block including prediction samples for the currentblock. The predictor may determine whether intra prediction or interprediction is applied on a current block or CU basis. The predictor maygenerate various information related to prediction of the current blockand transmit the generated information to the entropy encoder 190. Theinformation on the prediction may be encoded in the entropy encoder 190and output in the form of a bitstream.

The intra predictor 185 may predict the current block by referring tothe samples in the current picture. The referred samples may be locatedin the neighborhood of the current block or may be located apartaccording to the intra prediction mode and/or the intra predictiontechnique. The intra prediction modes may include a plurality ofnon-directional modes and a plurality of directional modes. Thenon-directional mode may include, for example, a DC mode and a planarmode. The directional mode may include, for example, 33 directionalprediction modes or 65 directional prediction modes according to thedegree of detail of the prediction direction. However, this is merely anexample, more or less directional prediction modes may be used dependingon a setting. The intra predictor 185 may determine the prediction modeapplied to the current block by using a prediction mode applied to aneighboring block.

The inter predictor 180 may derive a predicted block for the currentblock based on a reference block (reference sample array) specified by amotion vector on a reference picture. In this case, in order to reducethe amount of motion information transmitted in the inter predictionmode, the motion information may be predicted in units of blocks,subblocks, or samples based on correlation of motion information betweenthe neighboring block and the current block. The motion information mayinclude a motion vector and a reference picture index. The motioninformation may further include inter prediction direction (L0prediction, L1 prediction, Bi prediction, etc.) information. In the caseof inter prediction, the neighboring block may include a spatialneighboring block present in the current picture and a temporalneighboring block present in the reference picture. The referencepicture including the reference block and the reference pictureincluding the temporal neighboring block may be the same or different.The temporal neighboring block may be called a collocated referenceblock, a co-located CU (colCU), and the like. The reference pictureincluding the temporal neighboring block may be called a collocatedpicture (colPic). For example, the inter predictor 180 may configure amotion information candidate list based on neighboring blocks andgenerate information indicating which candidate is used to derive amotion vector and/or a reference picture index of the current block.Inter prediction may be performed based on various prediction modes. Forexample, in the case of a skip mode and a merge mode, the interpredictor 180 may use motion information of the neighboring block asmotion information of the current block. In the case of the skip mode,unlike the merge mode, the residual signal may not be transmitted. Inthe case of the motion vector prediction (MVP) mode, the motion vectorof the neighboring block may be used as a motion vector predictor, andthe motion vector of the current block may be signaled by encoding amotion vector difference and an indicator for a motion vector predictor.The motion vector difference may mean a difference between the motionvector of the current block and the motion vector predictor.

The predictor may generate a prediction signal based on variousprediction methods and prediction techniques described below. Forexample, the predictor may not only apply intra prediction or interprediction but also simultaneously apply both intra prediction and interprediction, in order to predict the current block. A prediction methodof simultaneously applying both intra prediction and inter predictionfor prediction of the current block may be called combined inter andintra prediction (CIIP). In addition, the predictor may perform intrablock copy (IBC) for prediction of the current block. Intra block copymay be used for content image/video coding of a game or the like, forexample, screen content coding (SCC). IBC is a method of predicting acurrent picture using a previously reconstructed reference block in thecurrent picture at a location apart from the current block by apredetermined distance. When IBC is applied, the location of thereference block in the current picture may be encoded as a vector (blockvector) corresponding to the predetermined distance. IBC basicallyperforms prediction in the current picture, but may be performedsimilarly to inter prediction in that a reference block is derivedwithin the current picture. That is, IBC may use at least one of theinter prediction techniques described in the present disclosure.

The prediction signal generated by the predictor may be used to generatea reconstructed signal or to generate a residual signal. The subtractor115 may generate a residual signal (residual block or residual samplearray) by subtracting the prediction signal (predicted block orprediction sample array) output from the predictor from the input imagesignal (original block or original sample array). The generated residualsignal may be transmitted to the transformer 120.

The transformer 120 may generate transform coefficients by applying atransform technique to the residual signal. For example, the transformtechnique may include at least one of a discrete cosine transform (DCT),a discrete sine transform (DST), a karhunen-loève transform (KLT), agraph-based transform (GBT), or a conditionally non-linear transform(CNT). Here, the GBT means transform obtained from a graph whenrelationship information between pixels is represented by the graph. TheCNT refers to transform acquired based on a prediction signal generatedusing all previously reconstructed pixels. In addition, the transformprocess may be applied to square pixel blocks having the same size ormay be applied to blocks having a variable size rather than square.

The quantizer 130 may quantize the transform coefficients and transmitthem to the entropy encoder 190. The entropy encoder 190 may encode thequantized signal (information on the quantized transform coefficients)and output a bitstream. The information on the quantized transformcoefficients may be referred to as residual information. The quantizer130 may rearrange quantized transform coefficients in a block form intoa one-dimensional vector form based on a coefficient scanning order andgenerate information on the quantized transform coefficients based onthe quantized transform coefficients in the one-dimensional vector form.

The entropy encoder 190 may perform various encoding methods such as,for example, exponential Golomb, context-adaptive variable length coding(CAVLC), context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), and thelike. The entropy encoder 190 may encode information necessary forvideo/image reconstruction other than quantized transform coefficients(e.g., values of syntax elements, etc.) together or separately. Encodedinformation (e.g., encoded video/image information) may be transmittedor stored in units of network abstraction layers (NALs) in the form of abitstream. The video/image information may further include informationon various parameter sets such as an adaptation parameter set (APS), apicture parameter set (PPS), a sequence parameter set (SPS), or a videoparameter set (VPS). In addition, the video/image information mayfurther include general constraint information. The signaledinformation, transmitted information and/or syntax elements described inthe present disclosure may be encoded through the above-describedencoding procedure and included in the bitstream.

The bitstream may be transmitted over a network or may be stored in adigital storage medium. The network may include a broadcasting networkand/or a communication network, and the digital storage medium mayinclude various storage media such as USB, SD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, HDD,SSD, and the like. A transmitter (not shown) transmitting a signaloutput from the entropy encoder 190 and/or a storage unit (not shown)storing the signal may be included as internal/external element of theimage encoding apparatus 100. Alternatively, the transmitter may beprovided as the component of the entropy encoder 190.

The quantized transform coefficients output from the quantizer 130 maybe used to generate a residual signal. For example, the residual signal(residual block or residual samples) may be reconstructed by applyingdequantization and inverse transform to the quantized transformcoefficients through the dequantizer 140 and the inverse transformer150.

The adder 155 adds the reconstructed residual signal to the predictionsignal output from the inter predictor 180 or the intra predictor 185 togenerate a reconstructed signal (reconstructed picture, reconstructedblock, reconstructed sample array). If there is no residual for theblock to be processed, such as a case where the skip mode is applied,the predicted block may be used as the reconstructed block. The adder155 may be called a reconstructor or a reconstructed block generator.The generated reconstructed signal may be used for intra prediction of anext block to be processed in the current picture and may be used forinter prediction of a next picture through filtering as described below.

The filter 160 may improve subjective/objective image quality byapplying filtering to the reconstructed signal. For example, the filter160 may generate a modified reconstructed picture by applying variousfiltering methods to the reconstructed picture and store the modifiedreconstructed picture in the memory 170, specifically, a DPB of thememory 170. The various filtering methods may include, for example,deblocking filtering, a sample adaptive offset, an adaptive loop filter,a bilateral filter, and the like. The filter 160 may generate variousinformation related to filtering and transmit the generated informationto the entropy encoder 190 as described later in the description of eachfiltering method. The information related to filtering may be encoded bythe entropy encoder 190 and output in the form of a bitstream.

The modified reconstructed picture transmitted to the memory 170 may beused as the reference picture in the inter predictor 180. When interprediction is applied through the image encoding apparatus 100,prediction mismatch between the image encoding apparatus 100 and theimage decoding apparatus may be avoided and encoding efficiency may beimproved.

The DPB of the memory 170 may store the modified reconstructed picturefor use as a reference picture in the inter predictor 180. The memory170 may store the motion information of the block from which the motioninformation in the current picture is derived (or encoded) and/or themotion information of the blocks in the picture that have already beenreconstructed. The stored motion information may be transmitted to theinter predictor 180 and used as the motion information of the spatialneighboring block or the motion information of the temporal neighboringblock. The memory 170 may store reconstructed samples of reconstructedblocks in the current picture and may transfer the reconstructed samplesto the intra predictor 185.

Overview of Image Decoding Apparatus

FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing an image decoding apparatus, towhich an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the image decoding apparatus 200 may include anentropy decoder 210, a dequantizer 220, an inverse transformer 230, anadder 235, a filter 240, a memory 250, an inter predictor 260 and anintra predictor 265. The inter predictor 260 and the intra predictor 265may be collectively referred to as a “predictor”. The dequantizer 220and the inverse transformer 230 may be included in a residual processor.

All or at least some of a plurality of components configuring the imagedecoding apparatus 200 may be configured by a hardware component (e.g.,a decoder or a processor) according to an embodiment. In addition, thememory 250 may include a decoded picture buffer (DPB) or may beconfigured by a digital storage medium.

The image decoding apparatus 200, which has received a bitstreamincluding video/image information, may reconstruct an image byperforming a process corresponding to a process performed by the imageencoding apparatus 100 of FIG. 2 . For example, the image decodingapparatus 200 may perform decoding using a processing unit applied inthe image encoding apparatus. Thus, the processing unit of decoding maybe a coding unit, for example. The coding unit may be acquired bypartitioning a coding tree unit or a largest coding unit. Thereconstructed image signal decoded and output through the image decodingapparatus 200 may be reproduced through a reproducing apparatus (notshown).

The image decoding apparatus 200 may receive a signal output from theimage encoding apparatus of FIG. 2 in the form of a bitstream. Thereceived signal may be decoded through the entropy decoder 210. Forexample, the entropy decoder 210 may parse the bitstream to deriveinformation (e.g., video/image information) necessary for imagereconstruction (or picture reconstruction). The video/image informationmay further include information on various parameter sets such as anadaptation parameter set (APS), a picture parameter set (PPS), asequence parameter set (SPS), or a video parameter set (VPS). Inaddition, the video/image information may further include generalconstraint information. The image decoding apparatus may further decodepicture based on the information on the parameter set and/or the generalconstraint information. Signaled/received information and/or syntaxelements described in the present disclosure may be decoded through thedecoding procedure and obtained from the bitstream. For example, theentropy decoder 210 decodes the information in the bitstream based on acoding method such as exponential Golomb coding, CAVLC, or CABAC, andoutput values of syntax elements required for image reconstruction andquantized values of transform coefficients for residual. Morespecifically, the CABAC entropy decoding method may receive a bincorresponding to each syntax element in the bitstream, determine acontext model using a decoding target syntax element information,decoding information of a neighboring block and a decoding target blockor information of a symbol/bin decoded in a previous stage, and performarithmetic decoding on the bin by predicting a probability of occurrenceof a bin according to the determined context model, and generate asymbol corresponding to the value of each syntax element. In this case,the CABAC entropy decoding method may update the context model by usingthe information of the decoded symbol/bin for a context model of a nextsymbol/bin after determining the context model. The information relatedto the prediction among the information decoded by the entropy decoder210 may be provided to the predictor (the inter predictor 260 and theintra predictor 265), and the residual value on which the entropydecoding was performed in the entropy decoder 210, that is, thequantized transform coefficients and related parameter information, maybe input to the dequantizer 220. In addition, information on filteringamong information decoded by the entropy decoder 210 may be provided tothe filter 240. Meanwhile, a receiver (not shown) for receiving a signaloutput from the image encoding apparatus may be further configured as aninternal/external element of the image decoding apparatus 200, or thereceiver may be a component of the entropy decoder 210.

Meanwhile, the image decoding apparatus according to the presentdisclosure may be referred to as a video/image/picture decodingapparatus. The image decoding apparatus may be classified into aninformation decoder (video/image/picture information decoder) and asample decoder (video/image/picture sample decoder). The informationdecoder may include the entropy decoder 210. The sample decoder mayinclude at least one of the dequantizer 220, the inverse transformer230, the adder 235, the filter 240, the memory 250, the inter predictor160 or the intra predictor 265.

The dequantizer 220 may dequantize the quantized transform coefficientsand output the transform coefficients. The dequantizer 220 may rearrangethe quantized transform coefficients in the form of a two-dimensionalblock. In this case, the rearrangement may be performed based on thecoefficient scanning order performed in the image encoding apparatus.The dequantizer 220 may perform dequantization on the quantizedtransform coefficients by using a quantization parameter (e.g.,quantization step size information) and obtain transform coefficients.

The inverse transformer 230 may inversely transform the transformcoefficients to obtain a residual signal (residual block, residualsample array).

The predictor may perform prediction on the current block and generate apredicted block including prediction samples for the current block. Thepredictor may determine whether intra prediction or inter prediction isapplied to the current block based on the information on the predictionoutput from the entropy decoder 210 and may determine a specificintra/inter prediction mode (prediction technique).

It is the same as described in the predictor of the image encodingapparatus 100 that the predictor may generate the prediction signalbased on various prediction methods (techniques) which will be describedlater.

The intra predictor 265 may predict the current block by referring tothe samples in the current picture. The description of the intrapredictor 185 is equally applied to the intra predictor 265.

The inter predictor 260 may derive a predicted block for the currentblock based on a reference block (reference sample array) specified by amotion vector on a reference picture. In this case, in order to reducethe amount of motion information transmitted in the inter predictionmode, motion information may be predicted in units of blocks, subblocks,or samples based on correlation of motion information between theneighboring block and the current block. The motion information mayinclude a motion vector and a reference picture index. The motioninformation may further include inter prediction direction (L0prediction, L1 prediction, Bi prediction, etc.) information. In the caseof inter prediction, the neighboring block may include a spatialneighboring block present in the current picture and a temporalneighboring block present in the reference picture. For example, theinter predictor 260 may configure a motion information candidate listbased on neighboring blocks and derive a motion vector of the currentblock and/or a reference picture index based on the received candidateselection information. Inter prediction may be performed based onvarious prediction modes, and the information on the prediction mayinclude information indicating a mode of inter prediction for thecurrent block.

The adder 235 may generate a reconstructed signal (reconstructedpicture, reconstructed block, reconstructed sample array) by adding theobtained residual signal to the prediction signal (predicted block,predicted sample array) output from the predictor (including the interpredictor 260 and/or the intra predictor 265). If there is no residualfor the block to be processed, such as when the skip mode is applied,the predicted block may be used as the reconstructed block. Thedescription of the adder 155 is equally applicable to the adder 235. Theadder 235 may be called a reconstructor or a reconstructed blockgenerator. The generated reconstructed signal may be used for intraprediction of a next block to be processed in the current picture andmay be used for inter prediction of a next picture through filtering asdescribed below.

The filter 240 may improve subjective/objective image quality byapplying filtering to the reconstructed signal. For example, the filter240 may generate a modified reconstructed picture by applying variousfiltering methods to the reconstructed picture and store the modifiedreconstructed picture in the memory 250, specifically, a DPB of thememory 250. The various filtering methods may include, for example,deblocking filtering, a sample adaptive offset, an adaptive loop filter,a bilateral filter, and the like.

The (modified) reconstructed picture stored in the DPB of the memory 250may be used as a reference picture in the inter predictor 260. Thememory 250 may store the motion information of the block from which themotion information in the current picture is derived (or decoded) and/orthe motion information of the blocks in the picture that have alreadybeen reconstructed. The stored motion information may be transmitted tothe inter predictor 260 so as to be utilized as the motion informationof the spatial neighboring block or the motion information of thetemporal neighboring block. The memory 250 may store reconstructedsamples of reconstructed blocks in the current picture and transfer thereconstructed samples to the intra predictor 265.

In the present disclosure, the embodiments described in the filter 160,the inter predictor 180, and the intra predictor 185 of the imageencoding apparatus 100 may be equally or correspondingly applied to thefilter 240, the inter predictor 260, and the intra predictor 265 of theimage decoding apparatus 200.

Overview of Image Partitioning

The video/image coding method according to the present disclosure may beperformed based on an image partitioning structure as follows.Specifically, the procedures of prediction, residual processing((inverse) transform, (de)quantization, etc.), syntax element coding,and filtering, which will be described later, may be performed based ona CTU, CU (and/or TU, PU) derived based on the image partitioningstructure. The image may be partitioned in block units and the blockpartitioning procedure may be performed in the image partitioner 110 ofthe encoding apparatus. The partitioning related information may beencoded by the entropy encoder 190 and transmitted to the decodingapparatus in the form of a bitstream. The entropy decoder 210 of thedecoding apparatus may derive a block partitioning structure of thecurrent picture based on the partitioning related information obtainedfrom the bitstream, and based on this, may perform a series ofprocedures (e.g., prediction, residual processing, block/picturereconstruction, in-loop filtering, etc.) for image decoding.

Pictures may be partitioned into a sequence of coding tree units (CTUs).FIG. 4 shows an example in which a picture is partitioned into CTUs. TheCTU may correspond to a coding tree block (CTB). Alternatively, the CTUmay include a coding tree block of luma samples and two coding treeblocks of corresponding chroma samples. For example, for a picture thatcontains three sample arrays, the CTU may include an N×N block of lumasamples and two corresponding blocks of chroma samples.

Overview of Partitioning of CTU

As described above, the coding unit may be acquired by recursivelypartitioning the coding tree unit (CTU) or the largest coding unit (LCU)according to a quad-tree/binary-tree/ternary-tree (QT/BT/TT) structure.For example, the CTU may be first partitioned into quadtree structures.Thereafter, leaf nodes of the quadtree structure may be furtherpartitioned by a multi-type tree structure.

Partitioning according to quadtree means that a current CU (or CTU) ispartitioned into equally four. By partitioning according to quadtree,the current CU may be partitioned into four CUs having the same widthand the same height. When the current CU is no longer partitioned intothe quadtree structure, the current CU corresponds to the leaf node ofthe quad-tree structure. The CU corresponding to the leaf node of thequadtree structure may be no longer partitioned and may be used as theabove-described final coding unit. Alternatively, the CU correspondingto the leaf node of the quadtree structure may be further partitioned bya multi-type tree structure.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment of a partitioning type of a blockaccording to a multi-type tree structure. Partitioning according to themulti-type tree structure may include two types of splitting accordingto a binary tree structure and two types of splitting according to aternary tree structure.

The two types of splitting according to the binary tree structure mayinclude vertical binary splitting (SPLIT_BT_VER) and horizontal binarysplitting (SPLIT_BT_HOR). Vertical binary splitting (SPLIT_BT_VER) meansthat the current CU is split into equally two in the vertical direction.As shown in FIG. 4 , by vertical binary splitting, two CUs having thesame height as the current CU and having a width which is half the widthof the current CU may be generated. Horizontal binary splitting(SPLIT_BT_HOR) means that the current CU is split into equally two inthe horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 5 , by horizontal binarysplitting, two CUs having a height which is half the height of thecurrent CU and having the same width as the current CU may be generated.

Two types of splitting according to the ternary tree structure mayinclude vertical ternary splitting (SPLIT_TT_VER) and horizontal ternarysplitting (SPLIT_TT_HOR). In vertical ternary splitting (SPLIT_TT_VER),the current CU is split in the vertical direction at a ratio of 1:2:1.As shown in FIG. 5 , by vertical ternary splitting, two CUs having thesame height as the current CU and having a width which is ¼ of the widthof the current CU and a CU having the same height as the current CU andhaving a width which is half the width of the current CU may begenerated. In horizontal ternary splitting (SPLIT_TT_HOR), the currentCU is split in the horizontal direction at a ratio of 1:2:1. As shown inFIG. 5 , by horizontal ternary splitting, two CUs having a height whichis ¼ of the height of the current CU and having the same width as thecurrent CU and a CU having a height which is half the height of thecurrent CU and having the same width as the current CU may be generated.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a signaling mechanism of block splittinginformation in a quadtree with nested multi-type tree structureaccording to the present disclosure.

Here, the CTU is treated as the root node of the quadtree, and ispartitioned for the first time into a quadtree structure. Information(e.g., qt_split_flag) indicating whether quadtree splitting is performedwith respect to the current CU (CTU or node (QT_node) of the quadtree)is signaled. For example, when qt_split_flag has a first value (e.g.,“1”), the current CU may be quadtree-partitioned. In addition, whenqt_split_flag has a second value (e.g., “0”), the current CU is notquadtree-partitioned, but becomes the leaf node (QT_leaf_node) of thequadtree. Each quadtree leaf node may then be further partitioned intomultitype tree structures. That is, the leaf node of the quadtree maybecome the node (MTT_node) of the multi-type tree. In the multitype treestructure, a first flag (e.g., Mtt_split_cu_flag) is signaled toindicate whether the current node is additionally partitioned. If thecorresponding node is additionally partitioned (e.g., if the first flagis 1), a second flag (e.g., Mtt_split_cu_vertical_flag) may be signaledto indicate the splitting direction. For example, the splittingdirection may be a vertical direction if the second flag is 1 and may bea horizontal direction if the second flag is 0. Then, a third flag(e.g., Mtt_split_cu_binary_flag) may be signaled to indicate whether thesplit type is a binary split type or a ternary split type. For example,the split type may be a binary split type when the third flag is 1 andmay be a ternary split type when the third flag is 0. The node of themulti-type tree acquired by binary splitting or ternary splitting may befurther partitioned into multi-type tree structures. However, the nodeof the multi-type tree may not be partitioned into quadtree structures.If the first flag is 0, the corresponding node of the multi-type tree isno longer split but becomes the leaf node (MTT_leaf_node) of themulti-type tree. The CU corresponding to the leaf node of the multi-typetree may be used as the above-described final coding unit.

Based on the mtt_split_cu_vertical_flag and themtt_split_cu_binary_flag, a multi-type tree splitting mode(MttSplitMode) of a CU may be derived as shown in Table 1 below. In thefollowing description, the multi-type tree splitting mode may bereferred to as a multi-tree splitting type or splitting type.

TABLE 1 MttSplitMode mtt_split_cu_vertical_flag mtt_split_cu_binary_flagSPLIT_TT_HOR 0 0 SPLIT_BT_HOR 0 1 SPLIT_TT_VER 1 0 SPLIT_BT_VER 1 1

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example in which a CTU is partitioned intomultiple CUs by applying a multi-type tree after applying a quadtree. InFIG. 7 , bold block edges 710 represent quadtree partitioning and theremaining edges 720 represent multitype tree partitioning. The CU maycorrespond to a coding block (CB). In an embodiment, the CU may includea coding block of luma samples and two coding blocks of chroma samplescorresponding to the luma samples.

A chroma component (sample) CB or TB size may be derived based on a lumacomponent (sample) CB or TB size according to the component ratioaccording to the color format (chroma format, e.g., 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0or the like) of the picture/image. In case of 4:4:4 color format, thechroma component CB/TB size may be set equal to be luma component CB/TBsize. In case of 4:2:2 color format, the width of the chroma componentCB/TB may be set to half the width of the luma component CB/TB and theheight of the chroma component CB/TB may be set to the height of theluma component CB/TB. In case of 4:2:0 color format, the width of thechroma component CB/TB may be set to half the width of the lumacomponent CB/TB and the height of the chroma component CB/TB may be setto half the height of the luma component CB/TB.

In an embodiment, when the size of the CTU is 128 based on the lumasample unit, the size of the CU may have a size from 128×128 to 4×4which is the same size as the CTU. In one embodiment, in case of 4:2:0color format (or chroma format), a chroma CB size may have a size from64×64 to 2×2.

Meanwhile, in an embodiment, the CU size and the TU size may be thesame. Alternatively, there may be a plurality of TUs in a CU region. TheTU size generally represents a luma component (sample) transform block(TB) size.

The TU size may be derived based a largest allowable TB size maxTbSizewhich is a predetermined value. For example, when the CU size is greaterthan maxTbSize, a plurality of TUs (TBs) having maxTbSize may be derivedfrom the CU and transform/inverse transform may be performed in units ofTU (TB). For example, the largest allowable luma TB size may be 64×64and the largest allowable chroma TB size may be 32×32. If the width orheight of the CB partitioned according to the tree structure is largerthan the largest transform width or height, the CB may be automatically(or implicitly) partitioned until the TB size limit in the horizontaland vertical directions is satisfied.

In addition, for example, when intra prediction is applied, an intraprediction mode/type may be derived in units of CU (or CB) and aneighboring reference sample derivation and prediction sample generationprocedure may be performed in units of TU (or TB). In this case, theremay be one or a plurality of TUs (or TBs) in one CU (or CB) region and,in this case, the plurality of TUs or (TBs) may share the same intraprediction mode/type.

Meanwhile, for a quadtree coding tree scheme with nested multitype tree,the following parameters may be signaled as SPS syntax elements from theencoding apparatus to the decoding apparatus. For example, at least oneof a CTU size which is a parameter representing the root node size of aquadtree, MinQTSize which is a parameter representing the minimumallowed quadtree leaf node size, MaxBtSize which is a parameterrepresenting the maximum allowed binary tree root node size, MaxTtSizewhich is a parameter representing the maximum allowed ternary tree rootnode size, MaxMttDepth which is a parameter representing the maximumallowed hierarchy depth of multi-type tree splitting from a quadtreeleaf node, MinBtSize which is a parameter representing the minimumallowed binary tree leaf node size, or MinTtSize which is a parameterrepresenting the minimum allowed ternary tree leaf node size issignaled.

As an embodiment of using 4:2:0 chroma format, the CTU size may be setto 128×128 luma blocks and two 64×64 chroma blocks corresponding to theluma blocks. In this case, MinOTSize may be set to 16×16, MaxBtSize maybe set to 128×128, MaxTtSzie may be set to 64×64, MinBtSize andMinTtSize may be set to 4×4, and MaxMttDepth may be set to 4. Quadtreepartitioning may be applied to the CTU to generate quadtree leaf nodes.The quadtree leaf node may be called a leaf QT node. Quadtree leaf nodesmay have a size from a 16×16 size (e.g., the MinOTSize) to a 128×128size (e.g., the CTU size). If the leaf QT node is 128×128, it may not beadditionally partitioned into a binary tree/ternary tree. This isbecause, in this case, even if partitioned, it exceeds MaxBtsize andMaxTtszie (e.g., 64×64). In other cases, leaf QT nodes may be furtherpartitioned into a multitype tree. Therefore, the leaf QT node is theroot node for the multitype tree, and the leaf QT node may have amultitype tree depth (mttDepth) 0 value. If the multitype tree depthreaches MaxMttdepth (e.g., 4), further partitioning may not beconsidered further. If the width of the multitype tree node is equal toMinBtSize and less than or equal to 2×MinTtSize, then no furtherhorizontal partitioning may be considered. If the height of themultitype tree node is equal to MinBtSize and less than or equal to2×MinTtSize, no further vertical partitioning may be considered. Whenpartitioning is not considered, the encoding apparatus may skipsignaling of partitioning information. In this case, the decodingapparatus may derive partitioning information with a predeterminedvalue.

Meanwhile, one CTU may include a coding block of luma samples(hereinafter referred to as a “luma block”) and two coding blocks ofchroma samples corresponding thereto (hereinafter referred to as “chromablocks”). The above-described coding tree scheme may be equally orseparately applied to the luma block and chroma block of the current CU.Specifically, the luma and chroma blocks in one CTU may be partitionedinto the same block tree structure and, in this case, the tree structureis represented as SINGLE_TREE. Alternatively, the luma and chroma blocksin one CTU may be partitioned into separate block tree structures, and,in this case, the tree structure may be represented as DUAL_TREE. Thatis, when the CTU is partitioned into dual trees, the block treestructure for the luma block and the block tree structure for the chromablock may be separately present. In this case, the block tree structurefor the luma block may be called DUAL_TREE_LUMA, and the block treestructure for the chroma component may be called DUAL_TREE_CHROMA. For Pand B slice/tile groups, luma and chroma blocks in one CTU may belimited to have the same coding tree structure. However, for Islice/tile groups, luma and chroma blocks may have a separate block treestructure from each other. If the separate block tree structure isapplied, the luma CTB may be partitioned into CUs based on a particularcoding tree structure, and the chroma CTB may be partitioned into chromaCUs based on another coding tree structure. That is, this means that aCU in an I slice/tile group, to which the separate block tree structureis applied, may include a coding block of luma components or codingblocks of two chroma components and a CU of a P or B slice/tile groupmay include blocks of three color components (a luma component and twochroma components).

Although a quadtree coding tree structure with a nested multitype treehas been described, a structure in which a CU is partitioned is notlimited thereto. For example, the BT structure and the TT structure maybe interpreted as a concept included in a multiple partitioning tree(MPT) structure, and the CU may be interpreted as being partitionedthrough the QT structure and the MPT structure. In an example where theCU is partitioned through a QT structure and an MPT structure, a syntaxelement (e.g., MPT_split_type) including information on how many blocksthe leaf node of the QT structure is partitioned into and a syntaxelement (ex. MPT_split_mode) including information on which of verticaland horizontal directions the leaf node of the QT structure ispartitioned into may be signaled to determine a partitioning structure.

In another example, the CU may be partitioned in a different way thanthe QT structure, BT structure or TT structure. That is, unlike that theCU of the lower depth is partitioned into ¼ of the CU of the higherdepth according to the QT structure, the CU of the lower depth ispartitioned into ½ of the CU of the higher depth according to the BTstructure, or the CU of the lower depth is partitioned into ¼ or ½ ofthe CU of the higher depth according to the TT structure, the CU of thelower depth may be partitioned into ⅕, ⅓, ⅜, ⅗, ⅔, or ⅝ of the CU of thehigher depth in some cases, and the method of partitioning the CU is notlimited thereto.

The quadtree coding block structure with the multi-type tree may providea very flexible block partitioning structure. Because of the partitiontypes supported in a multi-type tree, different partition patterns maypotentially result in the same coding block structure in some cases. Inthe encoding apparatus and the decoding apparatus, by limiting theoccurrence of such redundant partition patterns, a data amount ofpartitioning information may be reduced.

Encoding/Decoding of Image Based on Subpicture

One encoding target picture may be partitioned in units of a pluralityof CTUs, slices, tiles or bricks and a picture may be partitioned inunits of a plurality of subpictures.

Within the picture, a subpicture may be encoded or decoded regardless ofa preceding subpicture is encoded or decoded. For example, differentquantization or different resolution may be applied for the plurality ofsubpictures.

Further, each subpicture may be processed like a separate picture. Forexample, an encoding target picture may be a projected picture or apacked picture in an omnidirectional image/video or 360-degreeimage/video.

In such an embodiment, a part of a picture may be rendered or displayedbased on the viewport of a user terminal (e.g., a head mounted display).Accordingly, in order to implement low delay, among subpicturesconfiguring one picture, at least one subpicture covering the viewportmay be encoded or decoded preferentially or independently of theremaining subpictures.

The encoding result of the subpicture may be referred to as asub-bitstream, a substream or simply a bitstream. The decoding apparatusmay decode the subpicture from the sub-bitstream, the substream or thebitstream. In this case, a high level syntax (HLS) such as a PPS, anSPS, a VPS and/or a decoding parameter set (DPS) may be used toencode/decode the subpicture.

In the present disclosure, the high level syntax (HLS) may include atleast one of the APS syntax, the PPS syntax, the SPS syntax, the VPSsyntax, the DPS syntax or the SH syntax. For example, the APS (APSsyntax) or the PPS (PPS syntax) may include information/parameters thatmay be commonly applied to one or more slices or pictures. The SPS (SPSsyntax) may include information/parameters that may be commonly appliedto one or more sequences. The VPS (VPS syntax) may includeinformation/parameters that may be commonly applied to multiple layers.The DPS (DPS syntax) may include information/parameters that may becommonly applied to the overall video. For example, the DPS may includeinformation/parameters related to concatenation of a coded videosequence (CVS).

The subpicture may configure a rectangular region of the coded picture.The size of the subpicture may be differently set within the picture.For all pictures belonging to one sequence, the size and location of aparticular separate subpicture may be equally set. The separatesubpicture sequence may be independently decoded. A tile and a slice(and CTBs) may be restricted not to span across a subpicture boundary.To this end, the encoding apparatus may perform encoding such that thesubpictures are independently decoded. To this end, semanticrestrictions in the bitstream may be required. In addition, for eachpicture in one sequence, arrangement of tiles, slices and bricks in thesubpicture may be differently configured.

Subpicture design aims at abstraction or encapsulation of a range whichis smaller than a picture level but is larger than a slice or tile grouplevel. Accordingly, a VCL NAL unit of a motion constraint tile set(MCTS) subset may be extracted from one VVC bitstream and processingsuch as rearrangement to another WC bitstream may be performed withoutdifficulty such as modification at the VCL-level. Here, the MCTS isencoding technology that enables spatial and temporal independencebetween tiles. When the MCTS is applied, information on tiles which arenot included in the MCTS to which the current tile belongs cannot bereferred to. When the image is partitioned into MCTSs and is encoded,independent transmission and encoding of the MCTS are possible.

Such subpicture design has an advantage in changing the viewingorientation in mixed resolution viewport dependent 360° streamingschemes.

Hereinafter, an image encoding/decoding method using a slice/tile willbe described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 .

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image using aslice/tile by an image encoding apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The image encoding apparatus may derive slice(s)/tile(s) in a currentpicture by partitioning the current picture (S810).

The image encoding apparatus may encode the current picture based on theslice(s)/tile(s) derived in step S810 (S820).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image using aslice/tile by an image decoding apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The image decoding apparatus may acquire information on a video/imagefrom a bitstream (S910).

In addition, the image decoding apparatus may derive slice(s)/tile(s) ina current picture based on the information on the video/image acquiredin step S910 (S920). Here, the information on the video/image mayinclude information on the slice(s)/tile(s).

Next, the image decoding apparatus may decode the current picture basedon the slice(s)/tile(s) derived in step S920 (S930).

In FIGS. 8 and 9 , the information on the slice(s)/tile(s) may includevarious information and/or syntax elements described in the presentdisclosure. The video/image information may include a high level syntax,and the high level syntax may include the information on the slice(s)and/or the information on the tile(s). The high level syntax may includea picture header, and information on the picture header may be includedin the slice header described in the present disclosure. The informationon the slice(s) may include information specifying one or more slices,and the information on the tile(s) may include information specifyingone or more tiles. A slice including one or more tiles may be present inthe picture.

High Level Syntax (HLS) Signaling

As described above, the high level syntax may be coded/signaled forvideo/image coding. Hereinafter, signaling and syntax elements in apicture header and a slice header according to the present disclosurewill be described.

Picture Header and Slice Header

A coded picture may consist of one or a plurality of slices. Parametersfor a coded picture are signalled within a picture header (PH) andparameters for a slice are signalled within a slice header (SH). The PHis carried in its own NAL unit type. The SH may be present in thebeginning of a NAL unit containing payload of a slice (i.e., slicedata). Hereinafter, syntax element(s) of the PH and SH and the semanticsof the syntax elements will be described referring to FIG. 10 and FIG.11 .

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of the present disclosure of asignaling and syntax element in a picture header.

picture_header_rbsp( ) contains information that is common for allslices of the coded picture associated with the picture header (PH). Forexample, picture_header_rbsp( ) may include a reference picture flag(non_reference_picture_flag), GDR picture identification information(gdr_pic_flag), no_output_of_prior_pics_flag, recovery_poc_cnt,ph_pic_parameter_set_id or the like. Here, recovery_poc_cnt is signaledin picture_header_rbsp( ) when gdr_pic_flag is 1.

A first value (e.g., 1) of non_reference_picture_flag specifies that thepicture associated with the PH is not used as a reference picture. Asecond value (e.g., 0) of non_reference_picture_flag specifies that thepicture associated with the PH may or may not be used as a referencepicture.

A first value (e.g., 1) of gdr_pic_flag specifies that the pictureassociated with the PH is a GDR picture. A second value (e.g., 0) ofgdr_pic_flag specifies that the picture associated with the PH is not aGDR picture.

no_output_of_prior_pics_flag affects the output of previously-decodedpictures in the DPB after the decoding of a coded layer video sequence(CLVSS) picture that is not the first picture in the bitstream.

recovery_poc_cnt specifies the recovery point of decoded pictures inoutput order.

ph_pic_parameter_set_id specifies the value of pps_pic_parameter_set_idfor the picture parameter set (PPS) in use. pps_pic_parameter_set_id isa value for identifying the PPS to be referred to in another syntax.

The syntax elements included in the picture_header_rbsp( ) syntaxstructure of FIG. 10 may be included and signaled in thepicture_header_structure( ) syntax structure. In this case, thepicture_header_structure( ) syntax structure may be included andsignaled in the picture_header_rbsp( ) syntax structure.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a syntax structure of a slice header accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 11 , picture_header_in_slice_header_flag,picture_header_structure( ), slice_subpic_id, slice_address,num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 or the like may be signaled through a sliceheader.

In the example shown in FIG. 11 , picture_header_in_slice_header_flagspecifies whether a picture header syntax structure is present in aslice header syntax structure. A first value (e.g., 1 or True) ofpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag specifies that the picture header ispresent in the slice header and a second value (e.g., 0 or False) ofpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag specifies that the picture header isnot present in the slice header.

picture_header_structure( ) may be acquired based onpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag. For example,picture_header_structure( ) may be signaled whenpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag has a first value. Whenpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag has a second value,picture_header_structure( ) may not be included in the slice header, butmay be included and signaled in a separate NAL unit.

slice_subpic_id may be information on a subpicture identifier foridentifying a subpicture including a current slice. slice_subpic_id maybe acquired based on subpics_present_flag. For example, slice_subpic_idmay be signaled when subpics_present_flag is 1. subpics_present_flag mayspecify whether a subpicture is present in the current picture orwhether information on a subpicture is present in the bitstream. Forexample, a first value (e.g., 1 or True) of subpics_present_flag mayspecify that information on a subpicture is present in the bitstream orone or more subpictures are present in the current picture. A secondvalue (e.g., 0 or False) of subpics_present_flag may specify thatinformation on a subpicture is not present in the bitstream or asubpicture is not present in the current picture.

slice_address may specify the address in the current picture of thecurrent slice. slice_address may be acquired based on rect_slice_flagand/or NumTilesInPic. For example, when rect_slice_flag is a first value(e.g., 1 or True) or NumTilesInPic is greater than 1, slice_address maybe signaled in the slice header. At this time, rect_slice_flag may be anindicator indicating whether the slice included in the current pictureis a rectangular slice. For example, rect_slice_flag may be signaled ata picture level (PPS or picture header). In addition, NumTilesInPic mayspecify the number of tiles included in the current picture.

num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 may specify the number of tiles included inthe current slice. num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 may be acquired based onrect_slice_flag and NumTilesInPic. For example, when rect_slice_flag isa second value (e.g., 0 or False) and NumTilesInPic is greater than 1,num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 may be signaled in the slice header.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 , as a requirement of bitstreamconformance associated with picture_header_in_slice_header_flag, thefollowing may be included.

In order to satisfy bitstream conformance, it is required that the valueof picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is the same in all slices of aCLVS.

In addition, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a first value(e.g., 1), in order to satisfy bitstream conformance, it is requiredthat a NAL unit with NAL unit type equal to PH_NUT is not present in theCLVS.

In addition, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a second value(e.g., 0), in order to satisfy bitstream conformance, it is requiredthat a NAL unit with NAL unit type equal to PH_NUT is present in the PU,preceding the first VCL NAL unit of the PU.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 11 .

First, the image decoding apparatus may acquire a first flag(picture_header_in_slice_header_flag) included in the slice header(S1210).

The first flag may specify whether a picture header is present in theslice header. In addition, the first flag may specify whether thecurrent picture includes only one slice.

When the first flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) (step S1220—Yes),the image decoding apparatus may acquire a picture header from the sliceheader (S1230). When the first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False)(step S1220—No), the picture header may be acquired from the pictureheader NAL unit rather than the slice header (not shown).

Thereafter, it may be determined whether subpics_present_flag is a firstvalue (e.g., 1 or True) in step S1240. subpics_present_flag may specifywhether the current picture includes a subpicture. In addition,subpics_present_flag may specify whether information on a subpicture isincluded in the bitstream. subpics_present_flag may be signaled at ahigher level of a slice. For example, subpics_present_flag may beincluded and signaled in a sequence parameter set.

When subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) (stepS1240—Yes), the image decoding apparatus may acquire slice_subpic_idfrom the slice header (S1250). When subpics_present_flag is a secondvalue (e.g., 0 or False) (step S1240—No), the image decoding apparatusmay omit (skip) parsing of slice_subpic_id from the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1260, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) and/or NumTilesInPic is greaterthan 1. rect_slice_flag may be an indicator indicating whether the sliceincluded in the current picture is a rectangular slice. For example,rect_slice_flag may be signaled at a picture level (PPS or pictureheader). In addition, NumTilesInPic may specify the number of tilesincluded in the current picture.

When rect_slice_flag is a first value (e.g. 1 or True) or NumTilesInPicis greater than 1 (step S1260—Yes), the image decoding apparatus mayacquire slice_address from the slice header (S1270). Whenrect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False) and NumTilesInPicis not greater than 1 (step S1260—No), the image decoding apparatus mayomit (skip) parsing of slice_address from the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1280, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) and/or whether NumTilesInPic isgreater than 1.

When rect_slice_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or NumTilesInPicis not greater than 1 (step S1280—No), the image decoding apparatus mayomit (skip) parsing of num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 from the slice header.When rect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False) andNumTilesInPic is greater than 1 (step S1280—Yes), the image decodingapparatus may acquire num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 from the slice header(S1290).

Thereafter, the image decoding apparatus may decode the slice header, byparsing subsequent syntax elements, which are not shown, from the sliceheader.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 11 .

First, the image encoding apparatus may determine the value of a firstflag (picture_header_in_slice_header_flag) and encode the first flag inthe slice header (S1310).

When the first flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) (step S1320—Yes),the image encoding apparatus may encode the picture header in the sliceheader (S1330). When the first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False)(step S1320—No), the picture header is not encoded in the slice headerbut may be included and signaled in the picture header NAL unit (notshown).

Thereafter, in step S1340, it may be determined whethersubpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True).subpics_present_flag may be determined and signaled at a higher level ofthe slice. For example, subpics_present_flag may be included andsignaled in the sequence parameter set.

When subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) (stepS1340—Yes), the image encoding apparatus may encode slice_subpic_id inthe slice header (S1350). When subpics_present_flag is a second value(e.g., 0 or False) (step S1340—No), the image encoding apparatus mayomit (skip) encoding of slice_subpic_id in the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1360, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) and/or whether NumTilesInPic isgreater than 1.

When rect_slice_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or whenNumTilesInPic is greater than 1 (step S1360—Yes), the image encodingapparatus may encode slice_address in the slice header (S1370). Whenrect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False) and NumTilesInPicis not greater than 1 (step S1360-No), the image encoding apparatus mayomit (skip) encoding of slice_address in the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1380, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) and/or whether NumTilesInPic isgreater than 1.

When rect_slice_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or whenNumTilesInPic is not greater than 1 (step S1380—No), the image encodingapparatus may omit (skip) encoding of num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 in theslice header. When rect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False)and NumTilesInPic is greater than 1 (step S1380—Yes), the image encodingapparatus may encode num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 in the slice header(S1390).

Thereafter, the image encoding apparatus may encode the slice header, byencoding subsequent syntax elements, which are not shown, in the sliceheader.

In the example described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 , some stepsmay be changed or omitted. For example, conditions related toencoding/decoding of slice_address and/or num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 maybe changed.

Hereinafter, a method of improving the embodiment described withreference to FIGS. 11 to 13 in consideration of encoding/decoding of animage based on a subpicture will be described.

The image encoding apparatus may encode the current picture based on asubpicture. Alternatively, the image encoding apparatus may encode atleast one subpicture configuring the current picture and generate abitstream including encoded information of the encoded at least onesubpicture.

The image decoding apparatus may decode at least one subpicture includedin the current picture based on the bitstream including encodedinformation of at least one subpicture.

As described above, picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may specifywhether a picture header is present in the slice header. In addition,picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be used to specify whether thecurrent picture includes only one slice or more slices. When the currentpicture includes only one slice, since the slice is the only slice inthe current picture, some syntax elements in the slice header have fixedvalues. In this case, it may be efficient not to signal some syntaxelements having the fixed values.

Hereinafter, various configurations of the present disclosure forperforming efficient signaling will be described. The followingconfigurations may be applied to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure individually or in combinations.

Configuration 1

When the current picture includes only one slice, signaling of somesyntax elements in the slice header may be skipped (omitted). The valueof the syntax element, signaling of which is omitted, may be derived orinferred by the image encoding apparatus and/or the image decodingapparatus.

Whether the current picture includes only one slice may be indicated bya predetermined indicator. Accordingly, when the indicator indicatesthat the current picture includes only one slice, some syntax elementsmay not be included in the slice header and the values thereof may beinferred or derived. At this time, the indicator may be used as acondition indicating whether some syntax elements are included in theslice header.

Configuration 2

The indicator described in Configuration 1 may be, for example,picture_header_in_slice_header_flag.

Configuration 3

A syntax element in the slice header, signaling of which may be omittedaccording to the value of picture_header_in_slice_header_flag, mayinclude at least one of (a) or (b) below.

(a) Syntax Element(s) Specifying Subpicture Including the Slice

The reason why signaling of the syntax element (a) may be omitted isbecause, when only one slice is included per picture, it is obvious thatno subpicture is specified. For example, whenpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag indicates that the current pictureincludes only one slice, since the current picture is notencoded/decoded based on the subpicture, signaling of information on thesubpicture may be omitted.

(b) Syntax Element(s) Specifying Address of the Slice

The reason why signaling of the syntax element (b) may be omitted isbecause it is obvious that the slice is the only first slice in thepicture. For example, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flag indicatesthat the current picture includes only one slice, since the currentslice is the only slice in the current picture, signaling of the addressfor the current slice may be omitted.

Configuration 4

When each picture in the sequence has only one slice, the subpicture isalso not used. For example, subpics_present_flag orsubpic_info_present_flag, which is a syntax element for the subpicture,may be limited to a second value (e.g., 0 or False).subpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag may specify whether asubpicture is present in the current picture or whether information on asubpicture is present in the bitstream. subpics_present_flag orsubpic_info_present_flag may be included and signaled in the sequenceparameter set, for example.

Similarly, when subpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag is afirst value (e.g., 1 or True), a flag indicating whether each picture inthe sequence includes only one slice or a flag (e.g.,picture_header_in_slice_header_flag) indicating whether a picture headeris present in the slice header may not indicate that the current pictureincludes only one slice and may not indicate that a picture header ispresent in the slice header. Accordingly, for example, whensubpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag is a first value (e.g.,1 or True), picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be constrained tohave a second value (e.g., 0 or False).

Configuration 5

When a picture header is not present in the picture header NAL unit butis present in the slice header, in a CLVS of a particular layer (layerA), picture headers of all layers that refer to layer A (i.e., dependentlayers of layer A) and all layers referred to by layer A may beconstrained to be present in slice header, not in the picture header NALunit. The above constraint is imposed to simplify picture boundarydetection within an access unit for multi-layer bitstream case.

FIG. 14 is a view showing the syntax structure of a slice headeraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Since the description of the same syntax elements and the same signalingconditions are the same in the slice header structure according to theembodiment of FIG. 14 and the slice header structure according to theembodiment of FIG. 11 , a repeated description will be omitted.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 14 , the condition for signalingslice_subpic_id may be changed. Specifically, the slice header mayinclude slice_subpic_id based on subpics_present_flag andpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag. For example, whensubpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 or True) andpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 orFalse), slice_subpic_id may be signaled in the slice header. This isbecause, as described above, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flaghas a first value, the current picture includes only one slice andencoding/decoding based on the subpicture is not performed, signaling ofthe information on the subpicture is unnecessary.

In addition, according to the embodiment of FIG. 14 , the condition forsignaling slice_address may be changed. Specifically, the slice headermay include slice_address based on rect_slice_flag, NumTilesInPic andpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag. For example, when rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or NumTilesInPic is greater than 1,and picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 orFalse), slice_address may be signaled in the slice header. This isbecause, as described above, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flaghas a first value, since the current picture includes only one slice,signaling of the information on the address of the slice is unnecessary.

In the embodiment of FIG. 14 , a requirement of bitstream conformancefor picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be improved as follows.

First, it is required that the value ofpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is the same in all slices in theCLVS.

In addition, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a first value(e.g., 1), it is required that a NAL unit with NAL unit type equal toPH_NUT is not present in the CLVS. This is because the picture header isincluded and signaled in the slice header and thus a separate NAL unitfor transmitting the picture header is not necessary.

In addition, when picture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a second value(e.g., 0), it is required that a NAL unit with NAL unit type equal toPH_NUT is present in the PU, preceding the first VCL NAL unit of the PU.That is, it is required that the current PU has the PH NAL unit. This isbecause a separate NAL unit for transmitting the picture header isnecessary.

In addition, when subpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag is afirst value (e.g., 1), it is required thatpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is not a first value (e.g., 1). Inthis case, picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be constrained tohave a second value (e.g., 0).

In the example of FIG. 14 , slice_subpic_id indicates the identifier ofthe subpicture including the slice. When slice_subpic_id is present, avariable SubPicIdx is derived such that SubpicldList[SubPicIdx] is equalto slice_subpic_id. When slice_subpic_id is not present, a variableSubPicIdx may be derived to be equal to 0.

In the example of FIG. 14 , the length (bit length) of slice_subpic_idmay be derived as follows.

If sps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag is equal to 1, the length ofslice_subpic_id is derived to be equal to sps_subpic_id_len_minus1+1.Here, sps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag may specify whether theidentifier of the subpicture is signaled in the sequence parameter set.sps_subpic_id_len_minus1 is the length information of the subpictureidentifier and may be included and signaled in the sequence parameterset.

Otherwise (if sps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag is not 1), ifph_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag is 1, the length of slice_subpic_idmay be derived to be equal to ph_subpic_id_len_minus1+1. Here,ph_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag may specify whether the identifierof the subpicture is signaled in the picture header.ph_subpic_id_len_minus1 is the length information of the subpictureidentifier and may be included and signaled in the picture header.

Otherwise (if both sps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag andph_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag are not 1), ifpps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag is 1, the length ofslice_subpic_id may be derived to be equal topps_subpic_id_len_minus1+1. Here, pps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flagmay specify whether the identifier of the subpicture is signaled in thepicture parameter set. pps_subpic_id_len_minus1 is the lengthinformation of the subpicture identifier and may be included andsignaled in the picture parameter set.

Otherwise (if all sps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag,ph_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag andpps_subpic_id_signalling_present_flag are not 1), the length ofslice_subpic_id may be derived to be equal to Ceil (Log 2(sps_num_subpics_minus1+1)). sps_num_subpics_minus1 is the number ofsubpictures of each picture in the CLVS and may be included and signaledin the sequence parameter set.

slice_address specifies the slice address of the current slice. Whenslice_address is not present, the value of slice_address is inferred tobe equal to 0.

picture_header_structure( ) may include at least one syntax elementincluded in picture_header_rbsp( ) described with reference to FIG. 10 .

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 14 .

Steps S1510 to S1530 of FIG. 15 are equal to steps S1210 to S1230 ofFIG. 12 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

Steps S1540 to S1570 of FIG. 15 may correspond to steps S1240 to S1270of FIG. 12 , respectively. Accordingly, a repeated description of thecommon portions will be omitted.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 15 , in step S1540, it may bedetermined whether subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 orTrue) and whether a first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False).

When subpics_present_flag is a first value and the first flag is asecond value (step S1540—Yes), the image decoding apparatus may acquireslice_subpic_id from the slice header (S1550). When subpics_present_flagis a second value (e.g., 0 or False) or the first flag is a first value(e.g., 1 or True) (step S1540—No), the image decoding apparatus may omit(skip) parsing of slice_subpic_id from the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1560, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or whether NumTilesInPic is greaterthan 1 and whether the first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False).

When rect_slice_flag is a first value or NumTilesInPic is greater than 1and the first flag is a second value (step S1560—Yes), the imagedecoding apparatus may acquire slice_address from the slice header(S1570). When rect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False) andNumTilesInPic is not greater than 1 or the first flag is a first value(e.g., 1 or True) (step S1560—No), the image decoding apparatus may omit(skip) parsing of slice_address from the slice header.

Steps S1580 to S1590 of FIG. 15 are equal to steps S1280 to S1290 ofFIG. 12 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

As described with reference to FIG. 12 , the image decoding apparatusmay decode the slice header, by parsing subsequent syntax elements,which are not shown, from the slice header.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 14 .

Steps S1610 to S1630 of FIG. 16 are equal to steps S1310 to S1330 ofFIG. 13 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

Steps S1640 to S1670 of FIG. 16 may correspond to steps S1340 to S1370of FIG. 16 , respectively. Accordingly, a repeated description of thecommon portions will be omitted.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 16 , in step S1640, it may bedetermined whether subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 orTrue) and a first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False).

When subpics_present_flag is a first value and the first flag is asecond value (step S1640—Yes), the image encoding apparatus may encodeslice_subpic_id in the slice header (S1650). When subpics_present_flagis a second value (e.g., 0 or False) or the first flag is a first value(e.g., 1 or True) (step S1640—No), the image encoding apparatus may omit(skip) encoding of slice_subpic_id in the slice header.

Thereafter, in step S1660, it may be determined whether rect_slice_flagis a first value (e.g., 1 or True) or whether NumTilesInPic is greaterthan 1 and whether a first flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False).

When rect_slice_flag is a first value or NumTilesInPic is greater than 1and the first flag is a second value (step S1660—Yes), the imageencoding apparatus may encode slice_address in the slice header (S1670).When rect_slice_flag is a second value (e.g., 0 or False) andNumTilesInPic is not greater than 1 or the first flag is a first value(e.g., 1 or True) (step S1660—No), the image encoding apparatus may omit(skip) encoding of slice_address in the slice header.

Steps S1680 to S1690 of FIG. 16 are equal to step S1380 to S1390 of FIG.13 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

As described with reference to FIG. 13 , the image encoding apparatusmay encode the slice header, by encoding subsequent syntax elements,which are not shown, in the slice header.

In the example described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16 , some stepsmay be changed or omitted. For example, conditions related toencoding/decoding of slice_address and/or num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 maybe changed.

As a modified example of the embodiments described with reference toFIGS. 14 to 16 , improved constraints onpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag are applicable to the embodimentshown in FIG. 11 . In this case, at least some of the problems of theconventional methods may be solved. Specifically, for example, the valueof picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be constrained based oninformation on a subpicture (subpics_present_flag orsubpic_info_present_flag) signaled at a higher level of the sliceheader. More specifically, when subpics_present_flag orsubpic_info_present_flag is a first value,picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be constrained to have a secondvalue. Accordingly, when subpics_present_flag (orsubpic_info_present_flag) is a first value (when information on asubpicture is present in a bitstream or the current picture includes asubpicture), picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may indicate that apicture header is not present in the slice header or the current picturedoes not include only one slice. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14 ,when subpics_present_flag is a first value andpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a second value, slice_subpic_idmay be acquired from the slice header. However, whensubpics_present_flag is a first value, sincepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is constrained to have a secondvalue, it may be sufficient to check subpics_present_flag as the parsingcondition of slice_subpic_id. That is, according to this modifiedexample, in step S1540 and step S1640, a determination as to whether thefirst flag is a second value may be omitted. According to this modifiedexample, the image encoding apparatus may encodepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag having a second value whensubpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag is a first value. Inaddition, the image decoding apparatus may acquirepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag having a second value whensubpics_present_flag or subpic_info_present_flag is a first value.

FIG. 17 is a view showing the syntax structure of a slice headeraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Since the description of the same syntax elements and the same signalingconditions are the same in the slice header structure according to theembodiment of FIG. 17 and the slice header structure according to theembodiment of FIG. 14 , a repeated description will be omitted.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 17 , the condition for signalingpicture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be changed. Specifically, theslice header may include picture_header_in_slice_header_flag based onsubpics_present_flag. For example, when subpics_present_flag is a firstvalue (e.g., 1 or True), picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may not besignaled in the slice header. For example, when subpics_present_flag isa second value (e.g., 0 or False), picture_header_in_slice_header_flagmay be signaled in the slice header. This is because, as describedabove, when subpics_present_flag has a first value, since the currentpicture cannot contain only one slice,picture_header_in_slice_header_flag has a fixed value (second value).Accordingly, signaling of picture_header_in_slice_header_flag isunnecessary. In this case, a picture header which is signaled in casepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag is a first value may not be signaledthrough the slice header.

In addition, according to the embodiment of FIG. 17 , whensubpics_present_flag is a first value, slice_subpic_id may be signaledin the slice header.

Hereinafter, for description of slice_address andnum_tiles_in_slice_minus1, refer to FIG. 14 .

In the embodiment of FIG. 17 , a requirement of bitstream conformancefor picture_header_in_slice_header_flag may be the same as thosedescribed with reference to FIG. 14 .

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method of parsing and decoding theslice header of FIG. 17 .

The method according to FIG. 18 and the method according to FIG. 15 aredifferent in some conditions and order for parsing the syntax element,and the description of the syntax elements which are commonly disclosedmay be the same.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 18 , the image decoding apparatusmay determine whether the value of subpics_present_flag is a secondvalue (e.g., 0 or False) in step S1810.

When the value of subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 orTrue) in step S1810, since encoding/decoding based on the subpicture isperformed, the current picture does not include only one slice.Accordingly, in this case, the image decoding apparatus may not acquirepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag and a picture header from the sliceheader but may acquire slice_subpic_id (S1850).

When the value of subpics_present_flag is a second value in step S1810,the image decoding apparatus acquires a first flag(picture_header_in_slice_header_flag) from the slice header (S1820). Theimage decoding apparatus may determine whether the first flag is a firstvalue (S1830), and acquire a picture header from the slice header whenthe first flag is a first value (S1840). When the first flag is a secondvalue, the image decoding apparatus does not acquire the picture headerfrom the slice header, and, in this case, the image decoding apparatusmay acquire the picture header through a separate NAL unit. When thevalue of subpics_present_flag is a second value in step S1810, sinceencoding/decoding based on the subpicture is not performed, the imagedecoding apparatus may not acquire information on a subpicture(slice_subpic_id).

Steps S1860 to S1890 of FIG. 18 are equal to step S1560 to S1590 of FIG.15 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

As described with reference to FIG. 12 , the image decoding apparatusmay decode the slice header, by parsing subsequent syntax elements,which are not shown, from the slice header.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding the sliceheader of FIG. 17 .

The method according to FIG. 19 and the method according to FIG. 16 aredifferent in some conditions and order for encoding the syntax element,and the description of the syntax elements which are commonly disclosedmay be the same.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 19 , the image encoding apparatusmay determine whether the value of subpics_present_flag is a secondvalue (e.g., 0 or False) in step S1910.

When the value of subpics_present_flag is a first value (e.g., 1 orTrue) in step S1910, since encoding/decoding based on a subpicture isperformed, the current picture does not include only one slice.Accordingly, in this case, the image encoding apparatus may not encodepicture_header_in_slice_header_flag and a picture header in the sliceheader but may encode slice_subpic_id (S1950).

When the value of subpics_present_flag is a second value in step S1910,the image encoding apparatus may determine the value of a first flag(picture_header_in_slice_header_flag) and encode the first flag in theslice header (S1920). The image encoding apparatus may determine whetherthe first flag is a first value (S1930), and encode a picture header inthe slice header when the first flag is a first value (S1940). When thefirst flag is a second value, the image encoding apparatus may notencode the picture header in the slice header, and, in this case, theimage encoding apparatus may signal the picture header through aseparate NAL unit. When the value of subpics_present_flag is a secondvalue in step S1910, since encoding/decoding based on a subpicture isnot performed, the image encoding apparatus may not encode informationon a subpicture (slice_subpic_id) in the slice header.

Steps S1960 to S1990 of FIG. 19 are equal to step S1660 to S1690 of FIG.16 , respectively and thus a repeated description thereof will beomitted.

As described with reference to FIG. 13 , the image encoding apparatusmay encode the slice header, by encoding subsequent syntax elements,which are not shown, in the slice header.

In the examples described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19 , some stepsmay be changed or omitted. For example, conditions related toencoding/decoding of slice_address and/or num_tiles_in_slice_minus1 maybe changed.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible tomore efficiently signal information on whether a picture header ispresent in a slice header and/or information on whether a pictureincludes only one slice.

In addition, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure,since the information on whether the picture header is present in theslice header is signaled based on whether encoding/decoding based on asubpicture is performed, it is possible to prevent unnecessaryinformation from being signaled.

The names of the syntax elements described in the present disclosure mayinclude information on a location where the corresponding syntax elementis signaled. For example, a syntax element starting with “sps_” may meanthat the corresponding syntax element is signaled in a sequenceparameter set (SPS). In addition, syntax elements starting with “pps_”,“ph_”, “sh_”, etc. mean that the corresponding syntax elements arerespectively signaled in a picture parameter set (PPS), a picture headerand a slice header.

While the exemplary methods of the present disclosure described aboveare represented as a series of operations for clarity of description, itis not intended to limit the order in which the steps are performed, andthe steps may be performed simultaneously or in different order asnecessary. In order to implement the method according to the presentdisclosure, the described steps may further include other steps, mayinclude remaining steps except for some of the steps, or may includeother additional steps except for some steps.

In the present disclosure, the image encoding apparatus or the imagedecoding apparatus that performs a predetermined operation (step) mayperform an operation (step) of confirming an execution condition orsituation of the corresponding operation (step). For example, if it isdescribed that predetermined operation is performed when a predeterminedcondition is satisfied, the image encoding apparatus or the imagedecoding apparatus may perform the predetermined operation afterdetermining whether the predetermined condition is satisfied.

The various embodiments of the present disclosure are not a list of allpossible combinations and are intended to describe representativeaspects of the present disclosure, and the matters described in thevarious embodiments may be applied independently or in combination oftwo or more.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented inhardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case ofimplementing the present disclosure by hardware, the present disclosurecan be implemented with application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), Digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), general processors, controllers, microcontrollers,microprocessors, etc.

In addition, the image decoding apparatus and the image encodingapparatus, to which the embodiments of the present disclosure areapplied, may be included in a multimedia broadcasting transmission andreception device, a mobile communication terminal, a home cinema videodevice, a digital cinema video device, a surveillance camera, a videochat device, a real time communication device such as videocommunication, a mobile streaming device, a storage medium, a camcorder,a video on demand (VoD) service providing device, an OTT video (over thetop video) device, an Internet streaming service providing device, athree-dimensional (3D) video device, a video telephony video device, amedical video device, and the like, and may be used to process videosignals or data signals. For example, the OTT video devices may includea game console, a blu-ray player, an Internet access TV, a home theatersystem, a smartphone, a tablet PC, a digital video recorder (DVR), orthe like.

FIG. 20 is a view showing a content streaming system, to which anembodiment of the present disclosure is applicable.

As shown in FIG. 20 , the content streaming system, to which theembodiment of the present disclosure is applied, may largely include anencoding server, a streaming server, a web server, a media storage, auser device, and a multimedia input device.

The encoding server compresses content input from multimedia inputdevices such as a smartphone, a camera, a camcorder, etc. into digitaldata to generate a bitstream and transmits the bitstream to thestreaming server. As another example, when the multimedia input devicessuch as smartphones, cameras, camcorders, etc. directly generate abitstream, the encoding server may be omitted.

The bitstream may be generated by an image encoding method or an imageencoding apparatus, to which the embodiment of the present disclosure isapplied, and the streaming server may temporarily store the bitstream inthe process of transmitting or receiving the bitstream.

The streaming server transmits the multimedia data to the user devicebased on a user's request through the web server, and the web serverserves as a medium for informing the user of a service. When the userrequests a desired service from the web server, the web server maydeliver it to a streaming server, and the streaming server may transmitmultimedia data to the user. In this case, the content streaming systemmay include a separate control server. In this case, the control serverserves to control a command/response between devices in the contentstreaming system.

The streaming server may receive content from a media storage and/or anencoding server. For example, when the content are received from theencoding server, the content may be received in real time. In this case,in order to provide a smooth streaming service, the streaming server maystore the bitstream for a predetermined time.

Examples of the user device may include a mobile phone, a smartphone, alaptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), navigation, a slatePC, tablet PCs, ultrabooks, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smartglasses, head mounted displays), digital TVs, desktops computer, digitalsignage, and the like.

Each server in the content streaming system may be operated as adistributed server, in which case data received from each server may bedistributed.

The scope of the disclosure includes software or machine-executablecommands (e.g., an operating system, an application, firmware, aprogram, etc.) for enabling operations according to the methods ofvarious embodiments to be executed on an apparatus or a computer, anon-transitory computer-readable medium having such software or commandsstored thereon and executable on the apparatus or the computer.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be used to encode ordecode an image.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image decoding method comprising: acquiring afirst flag specifying whether information on a subpicture is present ina bitstream; acquiring a second flag specifying whether picture headerinformation is present in a slice header; and decoding the bitstreambased on the first flag and the second flag, wherein, based on the firstflag specifying that the information on the subpicture is present in thebitstream, the second flag is restricted to have a value specifying thatthe picture header information is not present in the slice header. 2.The image decoding method of claim 1, wherein, based on the first flagspecifying that the information on the subpicture is present in thebitstream, the slice header includes an identifier of a subpictureincluding a slice related to the slice header.
 3. The image decodingmethod of claim 1, further comprising acquiring the picture headerinformation from the slice header based on the second flag specifyingthat the picture header information is present in the slice header. 4.The image decoding method of claim 1, wherein the second flag has thesame value with respect to all slices in a coded layer video sequence(CLVS).
 5. The image decoding method of claim 1, wherein, based on thesecond flag specifying that the picture header information is present inthe slice header, a network abstraction layer (NAL) unit fortransmitting the picture header information is not present in a codedlayer video sequence (CLVS).
 6. The image decoding method of claim 1,wherein, based on the second flag specifying that the picture headerinformation is not present in the slice header, the picture headerinformation is acquired from a network abstraction layer (NAL) unit withan NAL unit type equal to PH_NUT.
 7. The image decoding method of claim1, wherein the first flag is signaled at a higher level of a slice, andwherein the second flag is included and signaled in the slice header. 8.An image encoding method comprising: encoding a first flag specifyingwhether information on a subpicture is present in a bitstream; encodinga second flag specifying whether picture header information is presentin a slice header; and encoding the bitstream based on the first flagand the second flag, wherein, based on the first flag specifying thatthe information on the subpicture is present in the bitstream, thesecond flag is restricted to have a value specifying that the pictureheader information is not present in the slice header.
 9. The imageencoding method of claim 8, wherein, based on the first flag specifyingthat the information on the subpicture is present in the bitstream, theslice header includes an identifier of a subpicture including a slicerelated to the slice header.
 10. The image encoding method of claim 8,further comprising encoding the picture header information in the sliceheader based on the second flag specifying that the picture headerinformation is present in the slice header.
 11. The image encodingmethod of claim 8, wherein the second flag has the same value withrespect to all slices in a coded layer video sequence (CLVS).
 12. Theimage encoding method of claim 8, wherein, based on the second flagspecifying that the picture header information is not present in theslice header, the picture header information is signaled through anetwork abstraction layer (NAL) unit with an NAL unit type equal toPH_NUT.
 13. The image encoding method of claim 8, wherein the first flagis signaled at a higher level of a slice, and wherein the second flag isincluded and signaled in the slice header.
 14. A method of transmittinga bitstream generated by an image encoding method, the image encodingmethod comprising: encoding a first flag specifying whether informationon a subpicture is present in a bitstream; encoding a second flagspecifying whether picture header information is present in a sliceheader; and encoding the bitstream based on the first flag and thesecond flag, wherein, based on the first flag specifying that theinformation on the subpicture is present in the bitstream, the secondflag is restricted to have a value specifying that the picture headerinformation is not present in the slice header.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer readable recording medium storing a bitstream which isgenerated by an image encoding method, the image encoding methodcomprising: encoding a first flag specifying whether information on asubpicture is present in a bitstream; encoding a second flag specifyingwhether picture header information is present in a slice header; andencoding the bitstream based on the first flag and the second flag,wherein, based on the first flag specifying that the information on thesubpicture is present in the bitstream, the second flag is restricted tohave a value specifying that the picture header information is notpresent in the slice header.